"Zem? Hey, Zemaria... wake up," Shikamaru had entered her makeshift tent.
"Mm... five more minutes momma," she said sound asleep.
He shrugged, "Well I guess it's time for Plan B again. I don't normally like to wake those who sleep. She's too cute to disturb..."
Shikamaru got up and made a short trip to the river, scooped up some water in a canteen, walked back over to Zemaria and splashed the water on her. She sleepily opened an eye an tried to focus. After realizing it was Shikamaru, the vine tent dismantled itself and she tackled him.
"Shikkie! When did you get back? I thought you were supposed to be gone for two days," she smiled.
Shikamaru was a little confused, "Uh- dad said you left and never came back. He was worried something happened. I've no idea how he missed coming here to look for you."
Zemaria blinked confused, "Wait, how long have I been sleeping then?"
"By the way he sounded when he told me I'd say two days," he told her.
"TWO DAYS!? I've been asleep for two days!? I haven't figured out an answer yet!" Zemaria yelled hopelessly.
Shikamaru laughed, "You're adorable. Dad told me you seemed to have a lot on your mind after opening your gift."
She nodded, "It had nothing to do with you and my answer though. At first I had concerns that father would try and interfere with the wedding if he got wind of it. Then I got worried that instead of trying to take out the Village again with the wedding as a distraction, he'd come after you. But that wouldn't make much sense since he had an opportunity to take you down when you and everyone came to rescue me from him."
"So that's what's on your mind then?" He asked her.
They stood together for a moment. Shikamaru gave her a hug and held her close. He gave her great comfort. Well, he did until she fell asleep in his arms.
"Heh, I think she's been hanging around me a bit too long," he said and carried her home.
Shikaku asked him about what happened and why she had left like she did. He told him her concerns and as he was comforting her, she fell asleep. He brought her upstairs and placed her on the bed until she was ready to wake up again.
The hours passed by until she finally woke. She stretched and yawned before going downstairs. Yoshino, Shikaku, and Shikamaru all stared at her oddly. Oblivious to them, she went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a snack. When she turned around she finally noticed them standing there.
"Something wrong?" She asked, mouth full with food.
Shikaku asked, "Um have you made a decision yet?"
Almost choking on her food she replied, "I uh- well..."
She turned away from them. Her face turned red. What was she going to do!? She wanted to tell them yes she accepted his proposal but she wanted it to be sweet and the only time romantic; just her and Shikamaru. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face them again.
"I think I'd prefer to answer that in private with Shikamaru if you don't mind," she said in a small shy voice.
She wasn't normally a shy type of person. Shikaku nodded and he and Yoshino left the house to give them some time alone. It was just her and Shikamaru now. She sat down on the couch.
Shikamaru asked, "So you have an answer now?"
She nodded, "Yes."
He sat down on the edge of the table. She took his hands and looked him in the eyes.
"My answer is yes. I will be yours forever and marry you," she smiled.
Shikamaru smiled widely. He took her in his arms and held her tight. She embraced him and giggled happily.
"We'll plan the wedding for a few years from now. I know for sure dad won't want it too close in the near future. He was concerned with me even proposing," he gave her a kiss.
The front door flew open and Shikaku, Yoshino, Tsunade, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi all fell inside smack on the floor. Damn eavesdroppers were listening in on the whole conversation. But where in the world did Tsunade and the rest of them come from?
"Dad!? Mom!?" Shikamaru yelled shocked.
"Naruto? Mom? Sakura? Even you Kakashi-Sensei? You were all eavesdropping?" Zemaria asked.
"Eh- the two of us were curious about your answer and then Naruto came by. Sakura was looking for him, Kakashi was going in this direction, and then Lady Tsunade was looking for all of them. So you see..." Shikaku said rubbing the back of his head with his hand only to get cut off by Shikamaru.
"Likely story," he said with his usual 'what a drag' expression.
Tsunade asked curiously, "Are the two of you really going to get married?"
Kakashi had a strange look on his face, "I can't believe it! My little Chuunin is growing up so fast!" He sniffled.
"Good lord... Kakashi-Sensei get a hold of yourself," Zemaria told him.
Well, the engagement wasn't a secret anymore. Naruto had problems keeping a secret. He ran off to of course tell everyone about the news. By the early evening all the original rookies along with Neji, Tenten, and Lee put together an engagement party at Shikamaru's place.
Shikamaru was unsure on how to feel, "Really guys, you didn't have to go through all the trouble of this."
"It's no trouble at all. Really," Hinata said shyly.
"Hey Shino why don't you try having a little bit of fun at least?" Naruto asked disappointed at how mopey he always was.
They all partied and had a great time. Now, the story can't end just yet. For one it'd be nice to see the wedding right? Well, that won't be for another few years. There was cake and snacks and drinks for everyone at the party. The three biggest drunks present were Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shikaku. Naruto decided he'd have some fun and draw on their faces when they passed out.
Sakura and Zemaria beat him up for it too. Shikamaru was glad it wasn't him instead. Eventually the party came to an end. Everyone said their goodbyes and went home. Everyone but Tsunade and Jiraiya who were still passed out with Shikaku. They were all on the floor.
"What are we going to do with these three?" Shikamaru asked.
"I've got an idea. I might not live past tomorrow but I have an idea," Zemaria said deviously.
She placed the three of them in one big erotic position and giggled. Shikamaru gasped and stared at them. Zemaria would be doomed if they found out she did that. Shikamaru calmly made his way up to the bedroom. They had their own private celebration before falling asleep. Morning came and it wasn't quiet for too long.
"ZEMARIA!!!" Yelled Tsunade as she, Jiraiya, and Shikaku woke.
Zemaria startled, fell off the bed, "What the-?"
Shikamaru woke up as well, "You're in so much trouble!"
She freaked out, "Hide me!"
Frantically she decided instead to bolt out the window and make a hasty getaway via vine travel. Shikamaru yelled out the window to her not to leave him there. With no time to think, Tsunade burst into the room nostrils flaming.
"Where is she Shikamaru?" She asked fuming.
Terrified he attempted to answer her, "I- uh- she- she's not here."
Tsunade flicked him out the window with her powerful flick. She searched all over the Village for her. Jiraiya had already received his beating from Tsunade even though it wasn't his fault. Shikaku cleverly had used Shadow Possession and then outsmarted her to make his escape. He was now looking for Shikamaru whom was flicked halfway across the Village.
After Tsunade found Zemaria and gave her hell about her actions, she gave her a mission. It was a B ranked escort mission. She called for Shino, Neji, and Kiba to make up the rest of the squad. Zemaria was team leader. The mission seemed simple enough but they were to defend against anyone who wanted to kidnap the person they were escorting.
The team headed off. Zemaria explained the mission in more detail to them along the way. They were going to the outskirts of the Land of Rice Patties which was notorious for having the Sound Village. That meant possibly entering Orochimaru's territory. After traveling a couple of days, they were finally getting close.
Zemaria stopped, "Wait."
Neji asked, "What's the matter? Why have you stopped?"
She pointed straight ahead, "There's a Village on fire."
"I don't believe that would be any of our concern," he said.
"Actually it is. That's the Village our client is supposed to be staying at," she told him.
Ahead of them was a fairly small Village. The client wasn't living there but instead staying there to rest. She was worried about the rest of her journey that someone would try and kidnap her. That was the reason for the current mission.
"Hold on, I can hear a heart beat that's far calmer than those of the Villagers. It must be from the person that started the fire," she said.
Separating them from the burning Village was a very wide canyon containing a violently moving river below. There was no bridge to cross over to the other side. Zemaria dove off the edge.
"Zemaria! Are you crazy or something!?" Kiba shouted.
It was fine, her vines wrapped around her and flung her to the other side. She did a few hand signs and faced the direction of her friends.
"Ninja Art: Vine Bridge Jutsu!" She yelled.
A bridge started to form from her side to the other made out of her own vines. The others quickly crossed it. They took a moment to gather their bearings.
"Neji, use your Byakugan to see if you can find our culprit. Whoever started the fire might have wanted to smoke out our client," she said.
He nodded, "Right. Byakugan!" He searched, "Up ahead. There's someone in the distance moving away very quickly."
Zemaria instructed, "Kiba, go into the Village as much as you can and get as many people to safety as possible. Also find our client. Make sure she's still there and still alive. Neji, Shino you both come with me. We're going after that guy."
"Are you sure this is a wise decision? Our mission is to escort the client and protect her from direct harm," Shino pointed out.
"If we don't find out what happened and who's responsible we mine as well be handing her over on a silver platter," Zemaria explained.
That was the end of that. They got moving to catch up to the suspect. Kiba was able to get all the Villagers to safety and found the client they were looking for. She explained that she was getting ready to await their arrival when the Village was attacked and went up in flames. Zemaria was catching up to the guy.
He attacked, "Wind Style: Crushing Bones Jutsu!"
Zemaria held her arm in front of her as an un-seeable force hit her straight on. She, Neji, and Shino could all hear her arm bone crack into pieces. The force threw her against a tree. She landed on a branch on her ass. Blood covered her arm and dripped down her mouth a bit.
"Zemaria, are you okay?" Neji asked.
"I'm fine. You'll regret doing that," she said.
Her vines wrapped around him rapidly. The thorns pierced his body injecting Zemaria's deadly poison. The guy was restrained.
"Tell me why you burned that Village back there! You have five minutes before the poison that's entered your body will kill you!" She said.
He laughed, "Like I would ever tell you!" He yelled.
She narrowed her eyes, "Suit yourself. I was going to be nice and give you an antidote for that poison but oh well, now I'm not."
The guy used a substitution to break free from the vines. Nonetheless he was still poisoned. Zemaria headed back to the burning Village. Her arm was still bleeding.
"Zemaria! What are you doing!?" Neji yelled running after her.
"The Village is still burning you know!" She yelled back to him.
They reached the Village. It was still burning. Smoke and fire filled the air. Zemaria did hand signs despite the pain from her left arm.
"Water Style: Dual Water Vortex Jutsu!" She said.
Two water Vortexes appeared from the river below. They rose up and sprayed on the fire. Soon the fire was out. All that was left was charred remains of the Village.
"Whoever is injured please come see me! I have Medical Ninjutsu Training and can heal the injured!" Zemaria yelled almost completely out of breath.
Shino stopped her a moment, "You're out of breath. Are you sure you can heal all of the injured?"
She swallowed hard, "I'm a lot stronger than you think Shino. I can handle it."
All of the injured Villagers gathered around Zemaria. The most severe were first. These ones had been badly burned from not getting out of the Village in time. By the time the least injured were up to be healed, Zemaria was running low on Chakra.
Right before the last injured Villager, she collapsed. She felt the effects from the guy's Jutsu that damaged her arm. Because of the intense pain, she screamed and clutched her arm.
Neji gasped concerned, "Zemaria, take it easy. You're Chakra levels are extremely low and you have your own injury to be concerned about."
"I'm fine. You forget I cheated death during the fight with Kimimaro. We have a mission to carry out," she said stubbornly.
"The mission can't be completed successfully if you are unable to continue it," Neji insisted.
She stood on her feet as shaky as they were. No, she was a Chuunin now. She had to be stronger than this. They and the client all continued on their way with the mission. Zemaria ignored her fatigue and her injured arm. She stopped after most of the day had gone by.
"We'll rest here for now," she told them.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? That guy that burnt down the Village could come back," Kiba said concerned.
She informed him, "Kiba, you and Akamaru have the best sense of smell. Neji has Byakugan. Shino has his insects. I can immediately hear heart beats up to four miles away. No one is going to sneak up on us without one of us knowing."
A few hours passed by. Zemaria was about to order her team to continue when she heard something. It was heart beats. Two of them... no three. Three heart beats hiding.
She closed her eyes and slowly tilted her head in a few different directions, "They're here. Three of them."
Neji, Shino, and Kiba all gasped. Akamaru barked a bit. He caught a whiff of them.
"All right! We know you're hiding! Come out and show yourselves!" Zemaria shouted.
Shuriken flew out from the trees. Zemaria still feeling the pain of her arm dodged and stood on the trunk of a tree. More shuriken came from another direction. She dodged them as well.
"Show yourselves you cowards!" She yelled again.
"Eh- what are you trying to do? Get yourself killed!?" Kiba asked.
Three ninja came out of the trees. They might have been friends with the one they first encountered. Zemaria readied herself for a fight. Neji, Kiba, and Shino all stood at the ready.
One Ninja laughed at Zemaria, "Looks like you can barely stand! You're supposed to be the leader of this squad?"
"Don't be fooled. I may be hurt but I'm not dead. I can still fight," she said not backing down.